Ticklish Engineer
by Erincoffeeaddict
Summary: The Bradley sisters cheer up Charley after he gets sick. Sort of a tribute to Smiley Burnette and Pat Woodell, the latter of whom died recently.


"I never thought something as wonderful as Kate's cooking could make me feel this way," Charley groaned as he staggered out of the dining room and into the lobby. He rubbed his large bulk of a stomach, wincing at the pain. He and his pal, Floyd Smoot came to the Shady Rest Hotel all the time, often being rewarded the pleasure of having dinner with Kate Bradley and her daughters. But for some reason, this particular meal had disagreed with him – made his belly get upset.

Charley sat down slowly in a chair and grabbed a cushion to hold over his stomach. He didn't want to hurt Kate's feelings by telling her that her cooking made him sick, but she was a perceptive woman and noticed it anyway. She gave him permission to stay and rest awhile before going back to the train. Floyd had to leave right away but promised he would be back in about an hour to pick Charley up.

Kate's three daughters – Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo, and Betty Jo, snuck away from the table and spied on the middle-aged engineer from the doorway. Meanwhile, Kate was doing the dishes with the reluctant help of Uncle Joe.

The young women studied Charley as he reclined. He was heavyset man with a mop of silver hair and wonderfully expressive eyes…but right now, his eyes were tired and sad. His face looked slightly flushed and feverish.

"Poor Charley. I wish there was some way we could make him feel better," said Billie Jo, sadly.

"Maybe if we put our heads together, we can think of something," Bobbie Jo whispered, keeping her brown eyes focused on the sick engineer.

Betty Jo racked her brains, trying to think about what would cheer Charley up. "Maybe we could tell him some jokes?"

"Well, I'm afraid I don't know any good jokes," Bobbie sighed.

"Bobbie Jo, aren't you supposed to be a bookworm or something?" Billie Jo complained to her brainy sister. "You must have read a decent joke some place!"

The ravishing brunette rolled her eyes. "I'm not really into joke books, okay?"

"Whatever."

"Hey, maybe we can sing to him!" Betty Jo exclaimed. "He loves our singing."

"That is a good idea, Betty. But I just don't know if that will work this time," Billie said, skeptically.

Betty Jo pouted. "Well! I don't see you coming up with any big ideas!"

"Just give me a minute, alright?" Billie Jo huffed, scratching at her blonde head.

Betty Jo continued thinking. She thought about all the times she had driven that train, with Charley standing right by her side. Suddenly, she recalled one particular afternoon after school when she was driving the train and got off to pick up a few things at the store. When she got back on the train a few minutes later, she discovered that Charley and Floyd had accidentally tied themselves up. She saw their situation as a great opportunity and took full advantage of it.

"I have an idea," Betty Jo said, grinning.

The other two girls looked at her and were startled by that sinister little smirk.

"Charley has ticklish feet," said Betty.

Billie and Bobbie shared a smile. They both knew he was insanely ticklish. One time, Billie Jo tickled his bare feet for a very long time. She had a lot of fun that night and chuckled warmly at the memory.

"Let's get him!" whispered Betty Jo, excitedly.

Bobbie peered into the lobby and saw that the engineer had fallen asleep. "Perfect," she bubbled. "Billie and Betty, you two go upstairs and get some strips of sheets to use as ropes.

"Okay! But wait…do think Mom will be mad?"

Bobbie considered that for moment. "No way! She wants Charley to feel better, doesn't she? Go get the sheets!"

The blonde and the redhead ran upstairs to do what Bobbie Jo told them. They returned a few moments later, dragging long strips of sheets with them. Then the girls put their plan into action.

While Charley was sleeping, they tied his ankles down on the coffee table, and strapped his wrists to the armrests of the chair. They also wrapped some extra sheets around his bulking waistline just to further secure him.

When that was finished, Bobbie Jo knelt down at his feet and slowly removed his shoes. Then she removed his socks and watched his toes wiggle as the cool air hit them.

"This is going to be fun!" Betty giggled.

Billie found a fluffy black feather and took her position at Charley's left foot. Bobbie grabbed a feather also and claimed his right foot.

Betty took a hold of his shoulders and gently shook him until he woke up.

"Hmph? Wha- ? Oh, hiya girls," Charley muttered, managing a small smile. But it wasn't long before he realized the predicament he was in. "Wait a minute…Why did you tie me up?! And…where are my shoes?"

"We'll give you back your shoes when we're finished," said Bobbie, grinning.

Charley was confused. "Finished with what? I don't understand…Kate! KATE!"

"Sssh! Keep your shirt on! We just want to cheer you up." With that, Bobbie and Billie held up the feathers to show him what they were going to do.

A deer-in-the-headlights look flashed across Charley's face. "No! I can't stand to be tickled! Girls, please let's be reasonable about this! Don't use those feathers! My feet won't be able to handle it!"

The sisters didn't reply. Billie raised her feather and began gliding it all over Charley's bare sole. Bobbie swirled her feather in circles on the ball of his foot, then went for his toes. She tickled under and between his toes, then tickled his smooth heel.

Charley was squealing and howling with laughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEASE! HAAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OOOOOOOHHH! STOP TICKLING ME! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA PLEEEEEEASE!"

This wasn't the first time Charley had been tickle tortured. In fact, it wasn't the second time either. Or the third time.

This was the fourth time.

The girls kept on tickling and began laughing right along with him. When the feathers stroked his insteps, Charley arched his back and screamed so hard that his face turned crimson and tears rolled down his cheeks.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH DEAR! THAT TICKLES! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA PLEASE STOOOOOOP! HEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!"

"Coochie coochie coo," Billie teased him as she tormented his arch with the soft feather. "Looks like somebody is super ticklish on his footsies!"

Charley had always been deathly ticklish on his feet. He couldn't even walk barefoot on grass because of how ticklish his feet were. His friend Floyd was the same way.

"This little piggy went to market…This little piggy stayed home…," Bobbie Jo was playing with his toes, wiggling them between her fingers. "This little piggy had roast beef…And this little piggy had none…And this little piggy went weeweeweeweewee all the way home!" When she got to his pinky toe, she gave it a kiss and then raked her nails mercilessly on his sole.

Charley screamed with laughter as he bucked and struggled with such force that his chair thumped up and down on the floor. He thought for sure he was going to die from laughter.

Kate and Uncle Joe could hear everything from the kitchen. They came out to see what was going on and were surprised at what they found.

Betty Jo was still standing on the sidelines and was feeling left out. "Come on, let me have a turn!"

Billie and Bobbie gave Charley a break so he could catch his breath.

"He's all yours, Betty Jo!" said Bobbie, after a few moments.

Charley tensed up and whimpered as she came close to his helpless feet.

"No! Please, Betty Jo! Don't tickle my bare FEEEEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEET! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA! NOOOOOOO HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! PLEEEEHEHEHEHEHEASE!"

Betty Jo was scribbling her fingers on both of his feet. "Tickle tickle tickle! Tickle tickle tickle! You're feeling better now, aren't you? Yes, you are!" she cooed, playfully.

Soon the other two sisters joined in again, they tickled his toes while Betty tickled his soles. Then they tickled his soles while Betty tickled his toes. They didn't stop for a minute. They were having so much fun that they didn't realize that poor Charley couldn't breathe. He would have passed out for sure, if Kate hadn't stepped in at that moment and put a stop to the tickling.

It took a long time for Charley to recover. His face was drenched with sweat and tears. He glanced up at the three girls who had tickle tortured him. "I'll get you back for this. All of you!" he threatened.

Billie, Bobbie, and Betty all felt a twinge of fear at hearing these words.

"Are you okay, Charley?" Kate asked, wiping his face with her apron.

He merely nodded, still very weak.

Suddenly, Floyd walked into the Hotel and greeted everybody. Next thing he knew, Floyd was restrained to a chair and his shoes and socks were stripped off.

Uncle Joe had tied him to a chair right next to Charley (who was still tied up and barefoot). Uncle Joe smirked evilly and stepped back to admire his work.

"You both cheated me at checkers at different times," Uncle Joe explained, coldly.

"We did no such thing!" Charley protested.

"Oh yes, you did…And now you're both going to pay!"

Then Charley and Floyd watched in terror as Uncle Joe approached their bare feet with a feather duster in each hand…

The End


End file.
